The Human Stain (2003)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Drama about fear and prejudice, about false morality and double standards, about racism and political correctness that goes more and more into extremes until it becomes equally evil as evil it fights against. I always loved Hopkins and with every new movie I love him more. I think there's no role he can not nail and make story deeper and stronger. And if I continue to watch movies with Nicole Kidman I risk to fall in love. Few days ago, when I saw Far and Away, my antipathy towards her weakened and after The Human Stain it completely disappeared. Now I just need to see Moulen Rouge and I'll start sticking her posters around the room like teenager.8,5/10

I want to be careful not to give too much away. I don't think I have ever seen a bad Anthony Hopkins film. I almost did not watch because I thought it would be too unsettling to see sex scenes between Hopkins and Kidman.However, the intimacy between Kidman and Hopkins comes across as genuine, and the movie was extremely tasteful when dealing with the sexual part of their relationship.Kidman shines in this film as a damaged, uneducated woman tormented by her tragic past. Gary Sinise and Ed Harris are, as always, excellent in their roles.Anthony Hopkins is one of the best actors of all time. He is able to show so much depth and emotion without trying. He manages to always come across as likable (even in the Hannibal movies).If your movies have to be filled with nudity, explosions, and special effects, this is probably not for you.However, if you like movies that deal with the inner workings of two complicated and diverse people, you will probably enjoy this.Forget all of the reviews, and judge for yourself.

Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman, Gary Sinise, and Ed Harris star in "The Human Stain," a 2003 film directed by Robert Benton and based on the novel by Philip Roth.Hopkins plays a brilliant professor, Coleman Silk, who is accused of racism when he questions whether two students whom he has never seen in his class are "spooks." Evidently word gets back to them and a complaint is filed. Furious, Silk resigns. A few days later, his wife (Phyllis Newman) dies. With no place to channel his anger, and believing the incident led to the death of his wife, he seeks out a writer (Gary Sinise) and says that he wants to write a book. The two become friends; Coleman writes some of his book and decides he sounds like a lunatic.Besides, now Coleman has something much more interesting going on - an affair with a beautiful young woman, Faunia (Kidman). A divorcée with three low-level jobs, Faunia has an ex-husband (Harris) stalking her and has suffered a tragedy in her life, for which her ex blames her. Though he's warned off the relationship, Coleman says, "She's not my great love, but she's my last love" and refuses to give her up.Coleman has a secret of his own, one that has defined his life, and in flashback we see what happened to him. So the story changes somewhat, from this professor who had to resign over an unfair accusation and has an affair with a much younger woman with problems, to the story of Coleman himself and the choices he made.This is a film that keeps you interested for sure as it takes off in different directions, but does it beautifully, not in a jerky way. One minute the man is fighting a committee, leaving in anger, having his wife collapse...Then he's convinced these people murdered his wife with their accusations and wants Nathan (Sinise) to help him write about it.Suddenly, he's involved with Faunia and we are brought into the sorrow and difficulty in her life...and then we are brought back to his life from the time he was a teenager. And somehow, it all comes together.The acting is phenomenal, with Kidman's moody and sexy behavior, and Hopkins' obsession with her, intensity, and sudden outbursts of rage. Harris and Sinise are wonderful, with less to do.Highly recommended, and brings us back to an era where people were driven to make very severe choices in order to achieve they life they wanted.

I would like to like The Human Stain. A picture with Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman, what could be better. I don't know Philip Roth's novel on which the movie is based, but he had a reputation as a good novelist. But for me, the picture failed in so many areas. True, there was some good acting, but not by the principles. Mr. Hopkins was called on to play a black man, who decides to pass the line to live as a white man, who takes on the persona of a Jew! That's a lot to ask, even for such an accomplished actor as Mr. Hopkins. So the facial expression of concern he shows in the film, seem to be more about what he's doing in the picture in the first place. Ms. Kidman, although a versatile player, is far too cerebral a performer to take on a tough, uneducated woman, a traveler in all the wrong places, and I think it's a reach to believe that familial abuse would turn her into what she is. Was that why she screamed her way through the part? Besides, she's too pretty for the role as presented. Simply two sad cases of miscasting.But more then that, the screen play and writing are flawed. We're asked to believe that a long-term college dean is called on the carpet because of an ambiguous racial reference? The narrative of the picture is abruptly cut with flashbacks just as ambiguous, and the overall effect was not a satisfied viewing of a plot that verged on the edge of being hackneyed. Or too stained to wear well if you will.